Category: Generations

It has been 40 years since the landmark Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, made abortion legal in this country.

I turn 40 years old later this year.

Ever since I was old enough to make the correlation that my birthday was the same year as the year abortion became legal in this country, it has stuck with me. My mother could have aborted me.

I am a member of Generation X…a generation cut in half from previous generations because of legalized and widespread use of contraception and because of legalized abortion. My generation can never make a difference like the Baby Boomers. We are too small, therefore we are ignored. We are silent, because half of us are missing.We live in a world where science has confirmed that something new with its own DNA is created at the moment of conception, yet we lack the conviction to stand up for these human beings and allow them to be born. We live in a society where more and more people believe it is wrong to kill an unborn child, but no one wants to tell anyone else what to do. We live in a world where someone who shoots and kills a pregnant woman and the baby she carries can be convicted for two homicides, yet we ensure the right of a woman to enlist the services of an abortionist to terminate an unborn human being with no consequence. We live in a country where we are told a woman must have this choice and we bill it as a choice, but the reality is that the women who show up for an abortion usually claim that they have no choice. I often wonder what a full-fledged Generation X could have done in this country when we never had the chance. What friends might I have made, given the opportunity? Sadly, many people of my generation are missing siblings. I know the option was given to my mother on a couple of different occasions with my younger siblings…thank God she did not go that route. How different would the landscape be if we were all here?Many studies about Gen X discuss how we are the most let-down generation in history…and it all started with the fact that so many of our parents aborted us.

Obviously, Generation Y and all the generations subsequent to mine can claim the same. There have been 50,000,000 children slaughtered in this country in the one place that should be the safest for them — their mother’s womb. Lord have mercy. Today, I will pray for the millions of children who never get a chance to live. Most Holy Innocents, pray for us. Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

This week, the blogosphere was filled with posts recognizing the passing of the 39th year of legalized abortion in our country. I often think about abortion. And many times I wish I could put into words how I feel about it.

I have always been against abortion, to some degree. When I was younger, I often took the “non-judgmental-it’s-not-for-me” approach. I had an experience when I was 23 that parked me firmly in the “abortion is evil” camp. (I’m not at liberty to share that experience, but rest assured, I believe through that experience I stood face-to-face with Satan himself…and lost…that day.) When I began having children, the proof and reality of the evil that wrought abortion was made clear to me through the intimate relationship I formed with my children from the earliest moments of pregnancy. The awe, wonder and amazement I felt as I was made aware of the power of God by simply “peeing on a stick” and seeing a positive result was breathtaking. It’s been breathtaking every single time. And it has strengthened my resolve every single time. Abortion stops a beating heart. A child, in what is supposed to be its safest environment is mangled, separated and killed in the procedure.

I often think of myself as an abortion survivor. I was born into a world where my mother could have killed me if she’d wanted to. There is nothing that made the scourge more evident to me than when I did a study on Generations during my MBA program some years ago. The “Baby Boom” generation was huge. Millions on top of millions of babies were born between 1946 and 1964 (the general time period attributed to the birth of baby boomers). There were waves of births as many baby boomers were born into larger families (on average) than we see today.

My generation – Generation X they call us – is much smaller than the generation preceding us. Most papers on the subject of Generations notes that the Baby Boomer generation is roughly 76 million and the Millenial generation is roughly 73 million, but my generation is 49 million. This shrinkage is due to many factors, not the least of which is the fact that many of my generational brothers and sisters were aborted out of existence, legally. Some other contributing factors were contraceptive use, sterilization, and divorce. However, over 50 million of babies have been legally aborted since the legalization of abortion in our country. That is 50 with six zeroes following it and we’re not talking about something abstract, like dollars or units in a production line…we’re talking about human beings in their earliest and most vulnerable state.

I am sad when I think of all the people who never got a chance at life…still never get a chance.

I saw a cartoon (probably on facebook) this week.

I guess I feel like Abortion, Contraception, Sterilization…and all the things that surround these are proof of Spiritual Warfare…Lucifer himself, in our midst, beckoning the weak, scared, ignorant and powerless to the pits of hell. I know there are other examples, we live in a society filled with many ills. But probably right now, at this time in my life, nothing hits me harder than Abortion, Contraception, Sterilization, Anti-life and Anti-Child attitudes.

I spent most of my time this week writing, re-writing, editing, pondering over this post. I feel like I should have more to say. I just don’t think I have what it takes to write a truly powerful, moving post on this topic. At least anything that would move anyone else. But THIS POST at IGNITUM TODAY encompassed many of my thoughts and feelings.

I need to go and write up my 7 Quick Takes because Rae hinted that she’d like some recent photos of Vincent, so I plan to oblige. 🙂